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3.03 AVERAGE
3.03 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Preclub review - still feels like a meh-must-read-for-school
Postclub review - just a dry colonizing journal journey - still meh
Postclub review - just a dry colonizing journal journey - still meh
challenging
dark
emotional
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
A really profound, although heavily descriptive and at times misleading, literary text. The presentation of imperialism and dual consciousness was intriguing until the end and the presentation of Marlow and his story was extremely clever (albeit at times confusing) overall a really strong book with a significant exploration of heavy themes with a surprising ending
adventurous
challenging
dark
Loveable characters:
No
So I decided to read Joseph Conrad’s, “Heart of Darkness,” because I am behind in my reading challenge and the book is only 89 pages.
I really didn’t realize the book was considered by many to be a boring and offensive slog. My focus was solely based on length when I made this book selection and not about content.
I read a couple negative reviews of, "Heart of Darkness," before I started reading it--reviews stating that the book was too muddled and abstract to be any good. This book is rife with symbolism and layers of “deeper meanings” and that made me paranoid that, "Heart of Darkness," would be too hard for me to understand.
There were times while I was reading that the story did feel a little bogged down by the narration, and I also sometimes had to go back and reread things.
I honest to God enjoyed the book though, which surprised me. It’s possible I didn’t understand the meaning of all that I read, but just to make sure I was picking up what Conrad was putting down, I did watch some professor on Youtube give a lecture on the book and I really do think I understood it at least fairly well.
The story is based on the experience Conrad had traveling on a steamboat up the Congo River.
The long and the short of it is that Conrad witnessed atrocities while in Africa that probably gave him a bad case of post-traumatic stress disorder. I personally interpret this story literally. I think the things Conrad saw on his journey through Africa were the stuff of nightmares.
I am aware that Conrad is considered racist by some because of what he wrote about the indigenous people living in Africa at that time, and I actually do believe that to be a colonialist and to just roll over other people—while enslaving and raping and also murdering native peoples (and elephants for the ivory, ew)—you’d be all those things that make people evil. Racist--murdering-rapist--exploiters—destroyers of culture--the colonialist were just rotten people with garbage in their souls.
Conrad would absolutely have been caught up just because he was associating with that kind of disgusting crowd and so he's without doubt tainted with the ideas of his time and comrades.
However, it’s clear that Conrad was disturbed by what he’d seen and absolutley traumatized. I wonder if he were a modern man would he have been a racist? From his thoughtfulness, and the insights he had in this book, I believe Conrad would have been a nice person if he were from our modern times.
I am honestly a part of the minority that actually enjoyed reading, “Heart of Darkness,” and I would read it again.
I really didn’t realize the book was considered by many to be a boring and offensive slog. My focus was solely based on length when I made this book selection and not about content.
I read a couple negative reviews of, "Heart of Darkness," before I started reading it--reviews stating that the book was too muddled and abstract to be any good. This book is rife with symbolism and layers of “deeper meanings” and that made me paranoid that, "Heart of Darkness," would be too hard for me to understand.
There were times while I was reading that the story did feel a little bogged down by the narration, and I also sometimes had to go back and reread things.
I honest to God enjoyed the book though, which surprised me. It’s possible I didn’t understand the meaning of all that I read, but just to make sure I was picking up what Conrad was putting down, I did watch some professor on Youtube give a lecture on the book and I really do think I understood it at least fairly well.
The story is based on the experience Conrad had traveling on a steamboat up the Congo River.
The long and the short of it is that Conrad witnessed atrocities while in Africa that probably gave him a bad case of post-traumatic stress disorder. I personally interpret this story literally. I think the things Conrad saw on his journey through Africa were the stuff of nightmares.
I am aware that Conrad is considered racist by some because of what he wrote about the indigenous people living in Africa at that time, and I actually do believe that to be a colonialist and to just roll over other people—while enslaving and raping and also murdering native peoples (and elephants for the ivory, ew)—you’d be all those things that make people evil. Racist--murdering-rapist--exploiters—destroyers of culture--the colonialist were just rotten people with garbage in their souls.
Conrad would absolutely have been caught up just because he was associating with that kind of disgusting crowd and so he's without doubt tainted with the ideas of his time and comrades.
However, it’s clear that Conrad was disturbed by what he’d seen and absolutley traumatized. I wonder if he were a modern man would he have been a racist? From his thoughtfulness, and the insights he had in this book, I believe Conrad would have been a nice person if he were from our modern times.
I am honestly a part of the minority that actually enjoyed reading, “Heart of Darkness,” and I would read it again.
diz o povo que era pra ser crítica ao imperialismo mas a crítica ta mais rasa que piscina de criança
Such a dark, dark book. But then, it's in the title, isn't it?
If you're the kind of person who likes their books to get to the point right away, don't read this one. If I had been stuck on a boat listening to Marlow spin his tales, I would have either fallen asleep five minutes in, or promptly told him to shut up because I was trying to read something better.